Music therapy supported the health-related quality of life for children undergoing haematopoietic stem cell transplants.

AIM: Paediatric haematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is a stressful treatment with an impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and supportive interventions are needed. This study evaluated the effects of music therapy during and after HSCT. METHODS: This was a randomised clinical pilot study of 29 patients aged 0-17 years who underwent HSCT at Karolinska University Hospital in Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden, between February 2013 and May 2017. The music therapy group comprised 14 children who received the music therapy during hospitalisation. Fifteen children in the control group received the intervention after discharge. Music therapy was offered twice a week for four to six weeks. The patients' HRQoL, pain and mood were evaluated at admission, discharge and after six months. The instruments for HRQoL included the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0 generic core scales. RESULTS: The scales showed that the music therapy group had a higher estimated physical function (adjusted p = 0.04) at the time of discharge, and the control group showed improved results after the intervention in all domains (p = 0.015). CONCLUSION: Despite the small sample, we found improved HRQoL after music therapy, which suggests that it could be a complementary intervention during and after paediatric HSCT.

Music therapy can lower the heart rates of severely sick children.

AIM: Paediatric recipients of haematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCT) are at increased risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and there is a need to identify interventions that can alleviate stress in this group. The aim of this study was to examine the previously unexplored effect of music therapy on children undergoing HSCT, by analysing physiological parameters and comparing them with a control group. METHODS: We performed a randomised clinical pilot study of 24 patients up to the age of 16 undergoing HSCT at Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, Sweden. Music therapy, including expressive and receptive elements, was performed twice a week in the treatment group and compared to standard care in the control group. Physiological parameters were evaluated according to the hospital's protocols. RESULTS: The music therapy group had significantly reduced evening heart rates compared to the control group (p < 0.001), and the effect was sustainable for four to eight hours after the intervention. There were no significant differences in saturation or blood pressure observed between the groups. CONCLUSION: Music therapy significantly lowered the heart rate of children undergoing HSCT for at least four to eight hours, indicating reduced stress levels and potentially lowering the risk of developing PTSD.

Helicobacter pylori and neutrophils: sialic acid-dependent binding to various isolated glycoconjugates.

Helicobacter pylori has been shown to agglutinate erythrocytes in a sialic acid-dependent manner. However, very few studies have examined relevant target cells in the human stomach. Neutrophils are required for the onset of gastritis, and the inflammatory reaction may be induced on contact between bacteria and neutrophils. In the present work, glycolipids and glycoproteins were isolated from neutrophils and were studied for binding by overlay with radiolabeled bacteria on thin-layer chromatograms and on membrane blots. There was a complex pattern of binding bands. The only practical binding activity found was sialic acid dependent, since treatment of glycoconjugates with neuraminidase or mild periodate eliminated binding. As shown before for binding to erythrocytes and other glycoconjugates, bacterial cells grown on agar bound to many glycoconjugates, while growth in broth resulted in bacteria that would bind only to polyglycosylceramides, which are highly heterogeneous and branched poly-N-acetyllactosamine-containing glycolipids. Approximately seven positive bands were found for glycoproteins, and the traditional ganglioside fraction showed a complex, slow-moving interval with very strong sialic-acid-dependent binding, probably explained by Fuc substitutions on GlcNAc.

Determination of dimethylated arginines in human plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography.

Using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with multigradient elution, N(G),N(G)-dimethyl-L-arginine (asymmetric-DMA, ADMA) and N(G),N'(G)-dimethyl-L-arginine (symmetric-DMA, SDMA) can be separated from human plasma samples. The dimethylarginine compounds in plasma, after extraction with a cation-exchange column, are converted to fluorescent derivatives with o-phthaldialdehyde (OPA) in an alkaline medium and the derivatives are separated simultaneously within 50 min on a reversed-phase column (Ultracarb 3 ODS(20)). The recoveries of ADMA and SDMA are over 80% and the method permits quantitative determination of dimethylated arginines at concentrations as low as 0.1 micromol/l in human plasma.

Enhanced binding of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli K99 to amide derivatives of the receptor ganglioside NeuGc-GM3.

A natural receptor in pig small intestine [Teneberg, S., Willemsen, P., de Graaf, F. K., & Karlsson, K.-A. (1990) FEBS Lett. 263, 10-14] for the enterotoxigenic bacteria Escherichia coli K99 is the ganglioside NeuGc-GM3 (NeuGc alpha 3Gal beta 4Glc beta Cer) [e.g., H. Smit, W. Gaastra, J. P. Kamerling, J. F. G. Vliegenthart, & F. K. de Graaf (1984) Infect. Immun. 46, 578-584]. Chemical modifications of the carboxyl group of this ganglioside were performed, giving five different amides, the methyl ester, and the primary alcohol. The products were purified, and their structures were investigated by negative FAB mass spectrometry. Binding of E. coli K99 was tested by incubating 35S-labeled bacteria with derivatized compounds separated on thin-layer chromatograms. Modification of the carboxyl group to a primary amide strengthened the binding at least 5-fold, as estimated from autoradiography of dilutions on thin-layer plates. Some strengthening of the binding was also obtained with the methylamide as well as with the carboxyl group reduced to the alcohol. The ethylamide bound equally well as the underivatized NeuGc-GM3. Amide substituents as large as propyl amide and benzyl amide were still recognized by the bacteria, although they bound weaker. The methyl ester was not stable in the chromatogram-binding assay with silica gel and water present, and it reverted to the acid.